Washington Nationals at Pittsburgh Pirates

· Major League Baseball

Washington Nationals

8-10, 7-5 Away

Final
0 - 2

Pittsburgh Pirates

11-7, 6-3 Home

Carmen Mlodzinski tosses 6 dominant innings as the Pirates top the Nationals 2-0

Washington Nationals vs. Pittsburgh Pirates: Game Highlights

Mlodzinski (1-0) took over for opener Mason Montgomery in the second and struck out five against two walks to lower his ERA to 1.77. Dennis Santana worked the ninth for his second save.

Ryan O'Hearn had three hits for the Pirates, who have won 10 of 14. Marcell Ozuna and Nick Gonzales had first-inning RBI singles against Jake Irvin (1-2), and it proved to be enough as four pitchers combined for Pittsburgh's second shutout in less than a week.

Mlodzinski began this season as a full-fledged starter for the first time in his four-year career after bouncing between the rotation and the bullpen last season.

While he was excellent through his first three turns in 2026, manager Don Kelly opted to give the ball to the left-handed Montgomery in the first inning on Wednesday in hopes of dealing with the left-hand-heavy top of Washington's lineup while also allowing Mlodzinski to work deeper into the game.

Montgomery allowed a one-out double to Curtis Mead. Mead advanced to third on a groundout but stopped there after Montgomery fanned Brady House to end the inning.

It would be as close as the Nationals, whose 99 runs through 17 games coming in were tied for the best offensive start in franchise history, would get to scoring all night.

Mlodzinski entered in the top of the second and hit CJ Abrams before settling down. His only real spot of trouble came in the fifth, when a single and a walk put two on with one out. He retired James Wood on a long flyout to left and then forced Mead into a grounder to third to end the threat.

Up next The four-game series wraps up on Thursday. Foster Griffin (2-0, 1.76 ERA) starts for the Nationals against Pittsburgh's Braxton Ashcraft (1-1, 2.12).

How can I watch Washington Nationals vs. Pittsburgh Pirates?

TV Channel: Nationals at Pirates 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.TV.
Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Scoring Summary

	9th Inning	Millas lined out to right.
	9th Inning	Abrams to second on fielder's indifference.
	9th Inning	Nuñez lined out to center.
	9th Inning	Nuñez hit for Wiemer
	9th Inning	Abrams hit by pitch.
	9th Inning	House grounded out to third.

Statistics

WSH		PIT
1	Games Played	1
1	Team Games Played	1
2	Hit By Pitch	2
12	Ground Balls	13
8	Strikeouts	7
0	Runs Batted In	2
0	Sacrifice Hit	0
3	Hits	5
0	Stolen Bases	1
2	Walks	3
0	Catcher Interference	0
0	Runs	2
0	Ground Into Double Play	1
0	Sacrifice Flies	0
30	At Bats	28
0	Home Runs	0
0	Grand Slam Home Runs	0
14	Runners Left On Base	13
0	Triples	0
0	Game Winning RBIs	1
0	Intentional Walks	0
2	Doubles	0
10	Fly Balls	8
0	Caught Stealing	0
128	Pitches	124
0	Games Started	0
2	Pinch At Bats	0
0	Pinch Hits	0
0.0	Player Rating	0.0
1	Is Qualified	1
0	Is Qualified In Steals	1
5	Total Bases	5
34	Plate Appearances	33
0.0	Projected Home Runs	0.0
2	Extra Base Hits	0
0.6	Runs Created	1.7
.100	Batting Average	.179
.000	Pinch Hit Average	.000
.167	Slugging Percentage	.179
.133	Secondary Average	.143
.206	On Base Percentage	.303
.373	OBP Pct + SLG Pct	.482
1.2	Ground To Fly Ball Ratio	1.6
0.6	Runs Created Per 27 Outs	1.9
7.0	Batter Rating	14.0
0.0	At Bats Per Home Run	0.0
0.00	Stolen Base Percentage	1.00
3.76	Pitches Per Plate Appearance	3.76
.067	Isolated Power	.000
0.25	Walk To Strikeout Ratio	0.43
.059	Walks Per Plate Appearance	.091
.033	Secondary Average Minus Batting Average	-.036
0.0	Runs Produced	4.0
0.0	Runs Ratio	1.0
0.3	Patience Ratio	0.3
0.1	Balls In Play Average	0.2
59.3	MLB Rating	67.0
0.0	Offensive Wins Above Replacement	0.0
0.0	Wins Above Replacement	0.0